Rhoenya Evelyn Cossack
Many words have been used to try and pin down Rhoenya Sellar, an Apothecary (and recently Plaguebringer) for the Legion of Vengeance. The one to most frequently come up amongst her colleagues is ‘strange’. Senior Plaguebringer Drayvenn Shallowgrave identified her once as ‘perhaps one of the strangest apothecaries he had ever met.’ It is a title that Rhoenya holds with some esteem. Though it is not one she is always proud of as she has met the ridicule of her peers for having crossed priorities or strange moral grounding. Unlike her contemporaries within the Legion, usually a very callous, brooding and generally homicidally insane lot, Rhoenya is a very bright and caring soul who keeps the well-being of others as a top concern. Though not her primary concern; as kind as she is Rhoenya is marked with a very distinct desire for materialistic wealth and often uses her good intentions as a means to meet this need. =Description= ---- Faint marks of some work crease across her face and neck. Skin, not quite as rotten as the rest of her, covers a majority of her face, save for her mouth and nose, where small neat stitches lock down the skin to her skull, giving her a permanent skeletal grin. Her hair is a dirty pile of vaguely golden locks hanging long and limp against her face and neck and pale yellow lights up her empty eye sockets. Rhoenya's frame is small and slender and still as lithe as she was in life. Her fingers twitch near constantly with the considerable energy bubbling up in herself just waiting to come out in some way. Her right foot is missing the bones of her small toe, and a portion of the toe next to it appears to have snapped off as the result of a previous injury. She generally carries around a large sword or two as a weapon, as well as a bag of various types of potions of her own design. Her clothing is swatches of cloth and leather with small suggestions of mail that provides for looks rather then protection. The faded colors consist of mostly silver, gold, black and brown with a punch of jade-green. Generally, she wears a cloak of green and accents of gold wraps around her neck and shoulders and down her back where it's tattered and muddled bottom skirts just barely over the ground. Being dead, she does not have to nor does she change clothing often and if often seen in this regalia. =History= ---- Early Life It was during the First War that Rhoenya was born Rhoenya Evelyn to Margaret and Thomas Cossack. They lived in Westfall at the time, not too far outside of Moonbrook, and tended to a small pig farm there. She has few memories of her early childhood but those that she retains are pleasant enough. One frequently cited is the candy tree she attempted to plant behind their home. Margaret was a kind, thoughtful mother known for her baked sweets and stews. Her father, Thomas, was a quiet man but something of an intellectual mind. He had a shrewd sense of business and knowledge of the earth that kept the family from poverty. Her most vivid, if it could be even called that, is when the war finally came to Westfall. At the age of four, the Cossack homestead was raided and razed to the ground along many others as the Orcish armies tore through Westfall on route to Stormwind. She and her parents, alongside many others, were forced from their homes with very little more than the clothing on their back and what sparse belongings they could afford to take. They made exodus for Stormwind, but found the city besieged and their beloved King assassinated. With no promise of safe shelter and no home to return to the Cossack family kept on the run, evading both bandits and orcish war party. Rumors reached them of the General, Anduin Lothar, leading their people to find safety in the northern kingdom of Lordaeron. Finding safety in numbers, the family banded with others and made a small nomadic community to provide for each other and ensuring their collective survival and safety as they travelled northward. A Kid at the Faire During the flight to Lordaeron the small band of people grew. Thomas Cossack initially held a slight grasp of leadership over them, soon people of a more sinister mind came into power of the group as they crossed into Lordaeron. At first they worked honestly, collecting plants and hunting game to sell. Greed and desperation had them turn to less honest means. Under the innocent guise of ‘borrowing’ some of the children were taught to quickly and quietly pick the pockets of strangers. Each clumsy attempt had them chased out of towns and villages, but every time the children got a little bit better. Rhoenya at first was shielded from this behavior by her parents who had no desire to see their daughter used in such a way. As time passed, they learned after many hungry nights that morals did not put food in their bellies and clothing on their backs. Though not encouraging it, they let little Rhoenya play with the other children, who was quickly introduced to the ‘borrowing’ game, as it had begun to be called. Through time and travel Rhoenya and her family soon ended up in the employ of a young upstart known as Silas Darkmoon; her parents for their various skills and her for her growing skill of a pickpocket. Though she, herself, drifted from job to job she fit in very well as one of the fledgling Darkmoon Faire’s patron pickpockets. As she grew into adolescence she was either placed or heavily encouraged to take on the position as a dancer for the Faire. Being a rather pretty girl made her very desirable for such a role. This phase in Rhoenya’s life however, has gone untold and will likely remain that way. At age sixteen, Rhoenya was expelled from the Faire. Still actively pickpocketing along when not dancing with the other girls, Rhoenya’s hands were finally found where one customer didn’t seem to appreciate. The patron acted violently against her and she acted, thrusting a knife quickly into his neck and barely escaping. Silas acted quickly to this outrageous act and Rhoenya was cast out from the Faire and for the first time of her life she was alone in the world. Alchemical Misadventure With few skills to lend herself easily to any sort of job, Rhoenya took to the only thing she knew: pickpocketing. She made her way to the city of Stratholme, knowing it was a city fat with gold and places to spend it. What she didn’t realize is that many, many others knew the same. Early in her career she ran afoul of the goblin Sneebus Pennypincher after having picked a mark he had been stalking. Through means of intimidation and blackmail, he coerced Rhoenya into his service, having her work for him and taking the majority of the profits for himself. What started out as a rather cruel business deal, however, over the course of three years became rather profitable for Rhoenya. She found protection through Sneebus and the gang of thugs and miscreants he amassed and broadened her skills beyond simple pickpocketing. By the time Sneebus approached his band with their greatest scheme, her crimes included burglary, breaking and entering and fraud. Sneebus' new plan would not only make the group fabulously wealthy, it would cause another jarring change to Rhoenya’s life. The plan was simple; a member would apply as a hired hand of in a rich household. At night, sometime after being hired, they would leave a door open and the remaining members of Sneebus’ gang would go in and clean the place out while everyone slept. Of course, they would rotate the numbers to keep the faces fresh. For some four or five noble households, the plan went off without a hitch and for the first time, Rhoenya found herself with gold in her pocket rather than a few scant copper now and again. When it finally came to her turn things went... differently. Rhoenya came to the home of an alchemist expecting an old, wise sage of a man but instead Charleton Nerkarthius Sellar III, or Nerkarth as he preferred, was quite a bit younger than expected. She found a position as his bodyguard and assistant but made an interesting choice some weeks into the venture. Rhoenya wouldn’t be able to figure out what came first... the romantic fancy or the desire for honest work, but either reason could provide justification for telling her former employer, Sneebus, that she was backing out of the job and out of the group. Though he was enraged, Rhoenya wouldn’t see any sort of retribution. Three months into her hiring as his assistant and bodyguard, during a very routine bout of potion making, Nerkath asked of Rhoenya to provide him with a potion, simplying calling it the ‘red’ one. It was an honest mistake and Rhoenya would never admit her carelessness but she didn’t realize at that time just how catastrophic it was to bring him a potion of the color ‘blue’. Pouring it in was the catalyst for an explosion of quite the magnitude and it was in this explosion they met an untimely end. A Second Chance “RHOOOOEEENNNNNYAAAAA!” A rather irate Nerkath would be the first thing she would hear again after nine years. The pair had been pulled from one of the many mass graves of Lordaeron and forced to return into life by Sylvanas and her Val’kyr. Despite his displeasure with the general situation, Nerkarth allowed Rhoenya to continue to honor her contract and continued on as his guard. They served for a short time in the Gilnean front, but pulled back into Hillsbrad. There they had their first encounter with a poor Forsaken afflicted with brain rot, leaving Rhoenya with a constant fear of developing such a disability. In Hillsbrad the two re-examined their situation and decided that moving from place to place like a pair of transients was not in their best interests. They decided it would be a good idea to firstly raise their financial standing and establish themselves somewhere so Nerkarth could continue his work as an alchemist and Rhoenya as his assistant. This led to the pair traversing much of the Eastern Kingdoms, "Hell" (their initial perception of the Outlands) and Northrend to seek fortune through the completion of menial tasks. After collecting a lifetime's worth of bear asses, Rhoenya began to despair as they were not making gold as quickly as she would have liked. What little they made was spent on ammunition and supplies for all their travel. During a trip back to the Undercity she met Ivan Sibelius Felsorrow, who she did not know at that point was the Head Doctor of the Legion of Vengeance. One very genuine comment about his 'dress' and one sedative-laced peppermint later Rhoenya woke up in one of the coffins of the Inn of the Undercity with a wonderful, fantastic idea: joining an established group with a payroll. Rhoenya brought this idea to Nerkarth who agreed the idea was quite inspired. They returned to the Undercity and sought out Seleste Felsorrow and offered their services to her within their military. To their delight (and Ivan's chagrin) they were accepted. Not needing to travel as extensively, they settled in the Brill apothecarium . Rhoenya quickly went to work establishing herself with local traders and kept herself nearly constantly occupied with the collection of reagents of all sorts for Nerkarth's use or to sell in the Undercity. Due to this, it's not uncommon for Rhoenya to claim she 'knows a guy' when something is needed. =Serving the Legion of Vengeance= ---- Rhoenya took her role of a Deathguard with poise. She was always ready to please High Executor Bolsar and her other superiors and was only more greatly determined by the promise of pay. She was introduced to the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow, a popular faith within in the Forsaken for its divine humanism and almost antagonistic view of the light. Excited with this new concept, she began to delve into the secrets of the Lightslayers and their manipulations of the shadow. Noragus, a shadow priest within the Legion provided her with several lessons resulting in a basic understanding in shadow-walking and a increased awareness that comes with an attunement to your own shadow. The lessons ended in time but they left Rhoenya with an unspoken spirituality. She seeks comfort in the tenets laid down by the Forgotten Shadow and adheres to them quietly and in her own way, apart from any organized worship. She took part in several campaigns as a Deathguard, most of the time unquestionably. When she was hired on by the warlock, Kashogruk Blacktusk, Rhoenya was faced with her first moral quandary as a Forsaken. For some amount of gold she was asked to kidnap a young woman shortly outside of Ravenholdt Manor and bring her to a secret location in Silverpine. She didn't realize at the time the woman was intended to be a gift to Ivan Felsorrow, who would be tortured as he saw fit. Offended, disgusted and outright disturbed, Rhoenya refused the money and left. That was the last time Rhoenya formally operated as a Deathguard. Uncertainly gripped her for some time. Rhoenya mentally wrestled for some time her role in both the Legion and in the Forsaken. Before she could come to a decision on her life, Garrosh Hellscream made one for her. She was drafted into the first wave into Pandaria, where she inevitably crashed and was lost for some weeks in the mists. While there, her life was more or less saved by an undead Orc (ironically) named Nakster Skullflayer, who would later join the Legion. He ensured her safe return to her people and she was soon returned to the safety of the Eastern Kingdoms. After her return, some consideration and some careful guidance from Nerkarth, she made the decision to alter her course. She, along with Nerkarth, formally applied for the positions of Apothecaries. They relocated themselves to the larger Apothecarium in the Undercity to allow more room for themselves to work but Rhoenya encouraged them to seek a more private location. They did so and had since relocated themselves once more into an abandoned keep in Alterac. In a very private civil ceremony on the 13th of September, the two were wed by Royal Overseer Bauhaus after a short engagement. The pair noted it was a good time because they were not yet wrapped up in another project. Experimentation on Humans One of Rhoenya's most provocative opinions is that of the Forsaken's experimentation on humans, specifically on humans who are picked up off the streets with no means of self defense. She doesn't buy the typical excuse her peers use to maintain such behavior, that being that because all humans despise and hate them that that gives them express permission to be cruel to them in return. Rhoenya holds no love for humans who would kill her without a second thought, but she doesn't find that gives her a reason to be cruel to them, torture them or subject them to humiliating, unnecessarily painful deaths. It's this reason Rhoenya separates herself from her fellow Apothecaries and this reason her research tends to focus less upon harming and more upon positive effects, such as healing or enhancing one's combat prowess or stamina. Other Apothecaries of the Legion look down strangely at her and criticize her for holding such an opinion. She stands firm in it, nonetheless, as she does with all her eccentricities. Rhoenya's stance on human experimentation, however, does not extend towards all mankind. She as a Deathguard participated in battles against the Alliance and continues to serve the Legion on the field as a "battle-mender", for lack of a better term and still retains some skill and all her ferocity. Also, in her work studying human and forsaken anatomy she has been known to use Scarlet Crusaders and Priests as research subjects, however she ensures they are killed as humanely as possible. =Constructing Constructs= ---- It isn't particularly known who initially had the idea but nonetheless some time during Rhoenya and Nerkarth's relocation to Alterac the pair began to delve into the Forsaken science of Fleshcrafting. Combining Nerkarth's alchemical and anatomical know how with Rhoenya's budding interest in tinkering and in the natural sciences. Their methods are rudimentary at best, utilizing a very basic theory of reanimation not requiring the assistance of necromancy . The theory involved the usage of lightning, accelerated through the use of copper coils, and directed towards the creation. The directed electricity would re-ignite the impulses in the brain and essentially reanimate the creature. It was a crazy idea, one that could only be truly considered seriously by Rhoenya and Nerkarth. They take their fleshcrafting with utmost sincerity and are always, Rhoenya in particular, constantly striving to perfect their creations to make them faster, stronger, durable and useful then the simple mindless brutes mass produced in the Undercity. In this pursuit, their research has them scouring many parts of the Azeroth collecting materials and research to improve their creations. Walken The first creation was a miniature Plaguehound named Walken. He exhibits Rhoenya's very crude stitch work and a basic knowledge in canine physiology. He was crated from various parts and reinforced with cobalt from Northrend. He is an unspectacular creation as he was created chiefly to test the theory of lightning-based reanimation. It was obviously a sound theory as he continues to endure as an animate creature, though lacking in any brain capacity greater then a house pet. Fiennes A recently created project and the current pinnacle of Rhoenya and Nerkarth's non-magical reanimation research. Spanning over months, the pair had scoured Azeroth and Draenor for specific and various materials. It's skeletal structure is comprised of cobalt-enforced bone. It's from is wrapped in the lightning resistant hides of Wind Serpents from Blades Edge Mountains. Fiennes has many elaborate features to push the boundaries of their research including two distinct heads with somewhat intelligent brains in each, flight capabilities and a natural breath weapon granted by several pieces donated by cloud serpent specimens from Pandaria. For the construction of Fiennes, the two ventured into the Throne of Thunder itself (long after Lei Shen's demise, of course) and plundered some of it's secrets and materials and utilized some of the Thunder King's technology. One such piece of technology is the stabilized lightning generators that allow Fiennes to retain a charge and to a length produce his own charge, which is needed to retain animation. To this point, Fiennes has proved to be obedient and stable. Its construction has not yet been tested in combat. ?????? It has been hinted that within days of the completion of Fiennes that Rhoenya and Nerkarth had 'ideas' for their next creation. Category:Undead Category:Characters Category:Forsaken Category:Hand of Vengeance Category:Darkmoon Faire